


Summer Sun (Something's Begun)

by Crysania, Flyingflapjack, SheWalksInBeauty26, SpaceWaffleHouseTM



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Beach, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Beaches, Desk Sex, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fuckbuddies, Hate Sex, Loss of Virginity, No Pregnancy, Oral Sex, Smut, Summer Love, Summer Romance, Thunderstorms, Virgin Ben Solo, Virgin Rey (Star Wars), thunderstorm sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 08:14:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23348278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crysania/pseuds/Crysania, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flyingflapjack/pseuds/Flyingflapjack, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheWalksInBeauty26/pseuds/SheWalksInBeauty26, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceWaffleHouseTM/pseuds/SpaceWaffleHouseTM
Summary: Ben Solo and his coworker Rey hate each other. They also work every single closing shift at his parents' beachside diner together. What are they to do but have a lot of hate sex during the summer before going back to college?
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 126
Kudos: 711
Collections: Ijustfellintothissendhelp, Reylo Round Robin





	1. Well she was Good (You Know What I Mean)

**Author's Note:**

> We were given the theme enemies to lovers and boy did we run with it! This was a blast to write so we hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as we loved writing it. The fic is mostly complete save for the end bits, so we should have it all up within a week and a half or so. Each chapter is written by a different author and everyone is lovely :D.
> 
> Chapter One is written by [Crysania](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crysania/pseuds/Crysania)

Rey really has no idea how she got to where she currently is.

Which, is to say, sitting on the desk in the back office,  _ Han’s _ desk mind you, with her legs spread and Ben Solo standing between them staring at her cunt like he’d just unwrapped his birthday  _ and _ Christmas present at the same time.

“Fuck,” he mutters.

They’d been arguing, which is no great surprise. They tended to bicker through every damned day at the diner. She’s too chatty with the customers. He’s not quick enough with getting the orders out to her. She spends too much time making sure the condiments are straight, with their labels facing in the same direction. He refuses to clean the bathroom, as if it’s somehow beneath the son of the owner to do such a thing.

He’s royalty in their small town, son of retired racecar driver Han Solo who has returned to their tiny seaside town to open  _ The Millennium Falcon _ . She’s just a scavenger from nowhere. She’d been found dumpster diving behind the local grocery store and when asked about her parents, about her age, about  _ anything _ , all she could tell them was she thought she was six and her parents said they’d come back for her. They’d searched for her missing parents for months before finally giving up. Her obvious British accent pointed to her folks being not only from out of town, but out of  _ country _ . They’d left her there to rot like so much garbage.

The people of Naboo had taken her in, their own little project child. They had given her all the love and understanding that they could manage. Only Ben Solo had seemed to regard her with any sort of disdain, taking to calling her “scavenger” when he’d met her at the ripe old age of eight. He’d called her that ever since and it grates on her every single time.

“Yes,” she says. “I think that’s the point.”

He looks up at her, pupils blown wide. But there’s this furrow between his brow that she’s not sure what to make of. So instead she reaches down to wrap her hand around his cock. His very  _ large _ cock. There’s nothing on Ben Solo that is small. Big ears, long nose, wide mouth with plush lips that she really would like on hers again. Long thick fingers and a cock to match.

She likes it.

She  _ shouldn’t _ .

He’s a complete and utter asshole and if she has to hear him call her  _ scavenger _ one more time, she’s probably going to wring his neck.

After she fucks him, that is.

He lets out a hiss when her hand strokes him, and then pushes her away. She lets go of him and shakes her head in confusion.

He wants this. She knows he does. His cock points straight up at her, impossibly hard and red. It almost looks  _ angry _ . So does Ben, really. Angry and…something she still can’t put her finger on. There are lines around his mouth as he presses those plush lips of his together and he’s breathing hard through his nose. “Rey…” His voice comes out like a broken thing, a little bit of a whine to the single syllable.

“Wow, you know my name.”

“Shut up,” he responds with. There’s no enmity behind the words.

She tries to reach for him again and he bats her hand away. “What are you…”

“If you do that again, this will be over before it even starts.” He takes another deep breath. And then he looks up at her. She’s surprised when he leans forward and kisses her and it’s  _ soft _ . Their first kiss, such as it was, was a mashing together of lips and teeth and not quite being able to find the angle. His tongue had been forceful, and she’d had to pull back and teach him how  _ she _ liked it.

“Been awhile?” she asks.

He snorts.

Actually snorts.

“What?” she asks.

“Nothing.”

But there’s something in the way he says the word. It’s just a little more sullen than what she’d expect from someone who was about to fuck her. Not that she has  _ experience _ with such things, mind. But she expects him to be a little more, well,  _ into _ the whole thing.

“Look, if you don’t want to…” she starts to say.

“No, I mean…I do.” He cringes. “I want to.” He won’t meet her eyes, and from this close, she can see the way his eye twitches, can see how he clenches his jaw and there’s a little twitch to the muscle there.

“Then will you…”

“Have you done this before?” he interrupts her with.

She rolls her eyes. She’s leaning back on the desk, her cunt on full display and  _ this _ is the question he asks. How is it even important? “Look, I want you,” she says and drags his hand down to her entrance. She’s wet, even  _ she _ can feel the way she’s practically dripping for him. She wants that cock inside her so fucking bad she can’t stand it.

“Right, but…”

She sighs as one of his fingers brushes across her clit, and then finds her entrance, pressing inside.

She lets out a little keening moan before she can even stop it.

He groans.

“No,” she bites out. “Okay? I have  _ not _ done this before.”

“Shit. We shouldn’t then…” But his finger is pumping in and out of her slowly and she  _ swears _ if he stops now, she’s going to finally do it. She’s going to kill him and bury his body in some swamp where they’ll find him a thousand years from now and speculate just over how he died. She wonders if the swamp will preserve his perfectly hard cock.

“We should,” she says.

“I don’t want to hurt you.” The words come out in a rush and she can’t help but roll her eyes.

“That’s nice and all, but you’re not going to hurt me.”

“But…”

“You heard it hurts the first time? Look, I’m 18 years old and there’s a fucking sex shop in this town, Ben.” She leans closer to him. “They have cheap dildos.” She says the last with a shrug and then moans when he sticks a second finger in her.

“Fuck, you feel amazing. I didn’t know…” His mouth clamps shut on the last words, and Rey just can’t  _ help _ herself. She should just grab his damned cock and pull him toward her and…no, there’s something there that is bothering her, and she can’t quite put her finger on it.

She can’t quite  _ think _ either as his fingers continue working in her. “Curl them,” she says, “just a little toward the…oh fuck yes right  _ there _ .”

“Wow,” he says.

And that’s when it dawns on her. He’s acting like this is…all new or something. “Ben when was the last time you did this?”

He pauses, his fingers still buried to the hilt in her. “Did…what?” There’s a small quaver to the words. He leans forward like he’s going to kiss her again, but she turns her head.

“This. Any of this. When is the last time you fingered a woman?”

He pulls his fingers out and grips the desk on either side of her hips.  _ Hard _ . She can see the whites of his knuckles. “Never,” he mutters.

“You’ve never fingered a woman?”

“No, okay? I haven’t.”

“Wow, they sure must have had a good time.” She feels almost bad the way his face pales and his eyebrows draw low over his dark eyes. Stupid. She’s so  _ stupid _ . She really shouldn’t open her mouth sometimes. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d put her foot in it.

“They didn’t have  _ any _ time,” he says.

“Any time?” She has no idea what on earth he’s on about.

“I’ve never done any of this before.” The words seem almost torn out of him. “None of it. I’m a virgin, okay? I’m a fucking  _ virgin _ !” The last is shouted and she worries that if anyone were to pass by the diner, they’d  _ hear _ him.

“Holy shit, Ben,” she says.

He starts to push away from the desk, and she reaches out to grab his arm. “Yeah well, so am I, okay? Let’s just do this then.”

“You want me to take your virginity?”

He’s almost cute when he’s confused, Rey thinks. “That was taken by a dildo,” Rey says with a smirk. “Come on, Ben.”

“You hate me.”

She shrugs. “And  _ you _ hate  _ me _ .”

“And so this is…nothing?” he asks. “Just fucking.”

“Of course,” she responds with. “Now will you just come over here and fuck me already?”

“Sure. I mean…of course.” He steps back between her thighs. “No big deal,” he mutters, almost soft enough that she can’t hear him. “Just fucking.”

“Ben…” she starts to say.

“I can do this,” he says.

He’s still talking to himself.  _ Oh dear Lord, he’s talking to himself _ .

She should laugh. It’s not particularly  _ funny _ , really, and yet it is. She bites back a smirk. “Ben…” she starts to say again.

And then  _ finally _ he’s going to do it. She sees him grab his own cock and try to line it up. She scoots a little further to the edge of the desk and it’s not really all that comfortable for her. She’s afraid she’s going to fall off and so balances herself by gripping the edges.  _ This is why they always do it bent  _ over _ the desk, isn’t it? _

“Okay,” he says and then presses forward.

He misses. Of course he does. Why would it go perfectly?

“Ouch,” she says.

“Shit.”

“Hang on.” Her hand wraps around his cock again and he makes a sort of strangled noise in the back of his throat. One of his hands grips her thigh, pushing them further apart, as she lines him up properly.

He takes a deep breath and she watches as his chest stretches the fabric of the t-shirt he’s still wearing. And then he pushes forward, and she feels a bit like she’s being impaled on a _tree_. She has dildos, some bigger than others, but none like _this_. She’s never had something so large inside her before.

She’s breathing hard, reaches out a hand to press on his chest.

“I’m hurting you,” he says and pulls out in a panic.

“What? No. It’s not…”

“I knew it.”

“You’re not…”

“We shouldn’t have…”

“Ben!” she shouts. That gets him to stop at least, turn back toward her. He looks ridiculous standing there, wearing nothing but his work t-shirt with the words  _ Forget the beach—the best buns in town are right here! _ emblazoned across it, and she actually laughs.

And of course his face turns bright red and his lips press together and he looks like he’s going to storm out again.

“Ben, just get back over here.” He eyes her warily but comes a little closer. She reaches out and grabs his wrist, pulling him back between her legs. “You’re  _ large _ , is all,” she says.

“That’s…uh…good. Right?”

He’s adorable and she hates that. She wants this to just be full of raw emotions…anger, hate, lust. It’s just something to scratch an itch with, nothing more.  _ It is, _ she reminds herself,  _ that’s all it is _ . It can’t be anything more. She won’t  _ let _ it.

“It’s fine,” she says. “I mean, it’s good, yes. Just…go slowly. My dildos are  _ not _ this large.”

He nods and she wonders if he’s ever  _ not _ serious. She almost never sees Ben laugh. Anger, annoyance, those she sees on his face all too often. But laughter? Never. Not even now.

She leans forward, wraps her arms around his neck, and whispers in his ear. “Now get inside me.”

He nods and his whole body trembles as he lines himself back up with her. And then he’s pressing into her. Slowly this time. Just the head at first and she’s breathing hard at the stretch. It’s a little uncomfortable, but not unpleasant. She finds she  _ likes _ the stretch. Her hands come around to grab his ass, urging him on.

And then finally… _ finally _ …he is seated fully inside her. He groans and then freezes.

“You can move,” she says.

“No,” he throws out. “I really cannot.”

“Ben…”

“If I move…”

She growls something incoherent at him. For fuck’s sake, who knew that Ben Solo was going to be such a worrier when it came to sex.  _ Just fucking get on it with it, already _ .

“Don’t worry about me,” Rey says. “I’ve got myself covered.”

“What? No, I should…” There’s a look of abject  _ misery _ in those honey-brown eyes of his, and so Rey takes it upon herself to grab his hips, pulling him back and then forward again.

He groans again.

She takes one of his fingers and presses it to her clit. “There, Ben. Circle around it, don’t press in too hard.”

“Like this?” he asks as he imitates what she’d just shown him.

“Fuck,” she mutters. “Yes, just like that. Now  _ move _ .”

It may be too much for her to ask, for him to take care of her and himself at the same time, but she’s  _ so close _ and it won’t take much to send her over the edge.

He thrusts in time to his finger movements and she wraps her legs around him, leaning back with hands gripping the edge of the desk and  _ this _ , she thinks _ , this is how it should always be _ .

She loves the feel of him inside her.

She loves the feel of his finger on her clut.

“I’m so close, Ben, just hang on for a few more…”

“I don’t know if I can,” he returns with.

“Just do it. Harder!”

And then her whole body tightens, and she comes with a scream and something she’s pretty sure is his name. He follows her over the edge mere seconds later, coming with a shout of his own, burying his face in her shoulder as his thrusts lose their rhythm.

He collapses a little, leaning forward. Her legs are still wrapped around him, and then she shivers.  _ Oh fuck, what have you done? _

_ You fucked Ben Solo, that’s what you did. _

_ You really, really did _ .

He freezes and she realizes he must realize just what they’ve done. He’s pushing away from her a moment later and she tries not to shiver again at how empty she feels when all the delicious warmth and the feeling of him still inside her is taken away.

_ Fuck _ .

He’s staring at her, eyes a little wide, mouth parted. He looks like he’s going to say something, and she doesn’t want to know. She can’t handle it, whatever it is.

“This didn’t happen,” she says, her voice tight.

“Didn’t…”

“No one needs to know.” She’s jumping off the counter, searching for her shorts.  _ They have to be there somewhere. _ She finds them as Ben finally seems to come out of his stupor.

“Right, of course. No one.” He swallows hard. “Like I would want to tell anyone anyway. I mean, me, sleeping with the  _ scavenger _ ?” He pulls his shorts back on and heads toward the door.

Rey is left staring after him.

He turns back then, and his eyes narrow on her. “You can close up.” He tosses the keys at her and then he’s gone. Just like that. She can hear his heavy footsteps through the diner and then the door slams.

She’s left thinking that the look on his face wasn’t one of anger, or hate, but one of betrayal, and…hurt.

Ben Solo looked  _ hurt _ .

And she’s really not sure what to think of that.


	2. Like, Does he have a Car?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter written by [Flyingflapjack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flyingflapjack/pseuds/Flyingflapjack)

“Have a good evening!” Ben calls as the last customer of the day walks out. He glances at the clock, relief washing over him as he realizes it’s closing time.

_Finally._

A scoff sounds from behind him, and closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. He _really_ doesn’t want to deal with her sass right now.

“…What?”

“You could _attempt_ to sound like you like your job, you know.”

“Why? I don’t.” He mutters.

Rey’s face pinches, and she looks like she has something to say about Ben’s lack of enthusiasm, but instead, she snaps her mouth shut, rolling her eyes as she walks to the supply closet.

Ben shakes his head, trying not to stare at the sway of her ass as she saunters away, or the way her black jean shorts hug her curves in all the right ways…but he is less than successful, to say the least.

_Best buns in town, indeed._

He feels his cock tighten ever-so-slightly in his pants, and he quickly snaps his gaze ahead, remembering the searing burn Rey’s rejection left him with.

_No. Not letting that happen again._

He knows nothing will come of it, anyways—she said so herself—and true to her word, she hadn’t said a word about their passionate hate-fuck since it’d happened all those weeks ago. Ben frowned at the thought. He was still bitter about it. 

Really, he doesn’t even know why he’s letting this get to him. He should just be glad he got a good lay out of it and move on…but he can’t.

Rey snickers quietly from the back room, and Ben’s gaze snaps to her, eyes narrowing when he takes in the wide grin lighting up her face as she texts furiously with one hand, a wet cleaning cloth held in the other.

Ben frowns, and when she lets out another giggle, he storms off towards the front door, trying desperately to ignore the burning jealousy churning in his gut; a familiar, loaded emotion for him when it comes to Rey.

She’s a no-name scavenger that shouldn’t even be a blip on his radar. A frown crinkles his brow when he remembers the day his parents told him about the girl that was found in the dumpster; how concerned they were for her, how they talked about offering her a place to stay.

He remembers how even as an eight year old, he doesn’t think he ever remembered his parents ever showing that much care for him. They were too busy for that. Too important for that.

Sometimes, it felt like they were too important for _him_.

Their fascination with her grates on his nerves. All he ever wanted— _all he wants_ —is to be understood and accepted by Han and Leia. He’d worked so hard for their approval all his life, but always seemed to fall short. Ben scowls, flicking the lock on the door with more force than necessary.

But in walks little orphaned Rey and her sob story, automatically gaining everything he’d fought tooth and nail for. His grits his teeth, feeling the resentment rise hot in his chest as he flips over the open sign.

Honestly, he feels like the woman has never had to work for anything. She’d always been the top of her class, never had trouble making friends, and always happily attracting attention wherever she went. She was the community golden girl; but not to Ben.

No, to him, she would always be the one who stole everything he’s had to work his ass off for, all with a snap of her dainty little fingers.

She infuriates him. He hates her…at least that’s what he tells himself. 

He takes heavy steps over to the windows to close the blinds, but he can’t stop his eyes from sliding back to Rey—who is now standing on tippy-toes, leaning forward to wipe down a table—and his eyes focus on the way her ass barely peekss out of her shorts. He feels himself grow harder, remembering how he fucked her over his father’s desk.

He smirks. She couldn’t have handed him a better revenge for the years of dismissal on a silver platter. It had been perfect. She had been perfect. Ben frowns. Apparently, she hadn’t thought as much.

He closes the blinds one by one, until he comes up to one of the tables Rey cleaned. He scoffs, rolling his eyes when he notices that the ketchup and hot sauce bottles aren’t lined up right with the napkin dispenser. It isn’t a big deal, really, but it’s straw that breaks the camel’s back.

“Just because you frequent the dumpsters in the back, doesn’t mean the customers want to see this garbage in the diner.” He spits. Rey stills, her hand freezing its drag of the wet cloth on the table.

She turns to him, her eyes filled with angry steel, ready to tell him off. But she doesn’t, and Ben feels his face heat as he watches her gaze drop to the blatant hardness in his pants.

He’d forgotten about that.

With an intake of breath, Rey crosses her arms, her defiant eyes locked on his.

“What, does being an insufferable asshole turn you on now? Bloody brilliant.” She cocks an eyebrow, and Ben scoffs loudly, running a hand over his mouth.

“Oh, I’m sure you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” He shakes his head, looking over at the crooked condiment bottles with a scowl, then back to Rey. “I mean _really_ , is it that hard to—”

The words die on his lips when he sees the blush on her cheeks, and the indignant look on her face when she tries to hide it by looking away. Ben lets out a curt laugh—vaguely hearing her mutter something about filing a formal complaint—but he’s more focused on the way she nervously bites at her bottom lip, the way her hand is fisted in her cloth of her shirt.

“Do it, then.” He challenges, leaning against a table. Rey frowns.

“Do what?”

“File a complaint, _Scavenger._ ” He shrugs, feeling his cock strain against his jeans when Rey’s eyes find his, dark with want as she crosses the distance between them. Ben pales, unsure if she’s about to kiss him, or kill him.

He thinks he’d be fine with either, at this point.

“I could, but…” She reaches up to grab his neck, pulling him down into a searing kiss, her lips crashing against his with a ferocity that sets his nerves on fire. He groans when her tongue traces the seam of his lips, and when he opens them, Rey wastes no time in exploring his mouth his hers, letting out a delighted hum while her hand tugs at the strands of hair at the nape of his neck.

Much too soon for his liking, she pulls away, and Ben is left wanting as she takes a step back, smirking haughtily.

“I think there are better ways to work our problems out.” She breathes, grabbing a fistful of Ben’s shirt, leading him towards the front counter. Ben swallows, his brain clouded with want, and _so much confusion_.

Didn’t she say it was a one-time thing? Hadn’t she told him to forget about it? He shakes his head, dismissing his rationality. He wasn’t about to argue about a round two with the stunning, infuriating woman.

Pushing his much larger form against the counter, Rey takes a step back, kicking her sandals off, and shimmying out of her black shorts. She grins, and Ben lets out a moan when he sees the flash of skin at her hip, realizing she hadn’t been wearing any panties.

“ _Fuck_ , Rey.” He mutters as she saunters up to him, running her hands teasingly down the front of his shirt.

“Hopefully, yes.” She teases before hopping up onto the counter, wincing at the cold bite of the metal against her base ass, while Ben stands in awe of the woman before him, suddenly grateful that his dad hadn’t installed those security cameras yet.

Smirking, Rey beckons him forward with a crook of her finger. “What are you waiting for, Solo? Get over here.”

Not needing any more invitation, Ben crashes his lips to hers with a groan, molding them against hers with more confidence than before; but even so, it’s not long before Rey takes the control of the kiss, deepening it with her tongue as she fists hands into his hair, and snakes a hand down the front of his pants, palming his throbbing cock.

Ben lets out a strangled moan as she massages him with deft fingers, and Rey grins against his mouth.

“Like that? Or do you still think I’m not up to the job?”

He grunts. “You’re not fighting fair, Rey.”

She lets out a chuckle, and with one last grind of her hand against him, she pushes him away. He frowns, not sure why she’s stopped…but then his gaze snaps to her hands, trailing slowly down her body before positioning them firmly on the counter as a support. He nearly growls when she slowly spreads her legs open, bearing herself to him as she sits atop the front counter.

“I never do,” She whispers, bringing her hand around to gently trail a finger through her already dripping cunt. “Touch me, Ben.”

He reaches for her, running his large hands slowly up her thighs, relishing in the moan she lets out as he slides a feather-soft finger down her slit before sinking it into her entrance, his thumb softly circling her clit as he pumps his finger in and out of her at a maddeningly slow pace. Rey moans when he curls his fingers inside, and he feels his cock pulse at the sound.

_Beautiful._

They’d done this the last time, and Ben will never forget the way her cunt clenched around his fingers as he brought her to orgasm. But when his eyes catch the shine of her slick on his fingers while he works them in and out of her cunt, he can’t help but wonder…what does she taste like?

Ben drops to his knees, smirking when he realizes the counter is at the perfect height for his face to level perfectly with her entrance. Rey opens her eyes as his movements still, and she gazes down at him, confusion clouding her hooded gaze.

His heart is beating a mile a minute, and he really has no idea what he’s doing, but somehow, he knows it’s right.

Slowly, he takes his finger from her, his eyes never leaving hers as he brings it to his mouth, his tongue slowly licking up the juices glistening on his skin.

Rey gasps, and Ben moans, closing his eyes when the essence of _her_ explodes across his tongue, bitter, and smooth, and so incredibly _sinful_. He wants more, needs more.

When his eyes open, he realizes she is transfixed in what he’s doing. _She likes it._ With a devilish smirk, he puts his whole finger in his mouth then, licking every last ounce of her wetness off of it.

Rey groans. “ _Fuck_ . _Yes_ .” She breathes out, biting her bottom lip when his finger comes out of his mouth clean. “I need more of you. Touch me, taste me, anything, _please_.”

Ben stills, a frown crossing his features. _Taste her._ He hadn’t quite gotten that far in his head. He looks up at her, the beautiful creature she is, and wonders how they ever ended up this way in the first place. Then the panic hits him.

 _I’ve never done this before. What do I do next? What if she doesn’t like it?_ He bobs his throat. _What if I ruin whatever this is?_

He’s shaken from his thoughts when Rey brings a soft hand to the side of his face, coaxing him to look at her. He frowns when he sees the soft amusement in her hazel eyes rather than anger, or hate.

“Hey, breathe. _I’ll help you._ I’ll teach you what I like.” She says softly, taking his hands, and firmly placing them across the smooth skin of her hips.

Ben’s mind races, his cock aching with need when he realizes his hands can nearly span all the way around them; and all that goes through his mind as she leads his head towards her inner thighs is: _yes, yes_ , please _, yes._

“I want you so badly.” He breathes raggedly against her skin, watching with rapt attention as a shudder runs through her body, sending prickles across her skin. He leans in, tentatively kissing the inside of her thigh, and she twitches, moaning lowly.

She grins then, shifting her arms to lean back on the counter. “ _Yes._ Kiss the inside of my thighs, Ben. Slowly. Work your way up.”

He kisses her skin more confidently then, her cries of _‘yes’_ and _‘more’_ spurring him while his lips suck, lick and kiss their way up her thighs at a deliciously slow pace.

His hands tighten their grip on her hips when he finally reaches her dripping cunt, and he can’t help himself when he dives right in, swiping the flat of his tongue from the bottom of her entrance to the top, moaning deeply, as she clenches, fisting a hand in his thick hair.

“ _Oooooh god_. Slower, Ben. Softer.” He does what she asks, the sounds and words that tumble from her lips sending a jolt straight through his cock.

“I want your fingers in me, but don’t you _dare_ stop what you’re doing with your tongue, or so help me I— _oooohhhh fuuuuck_.” She moans as Ben plunges two of his fingers into her tight cunt, working them up and in as he swirls his tongue around her clit, moaning against her when she locks her legs around his head, gently pushing his face against her.

“Fuck, Ben, I’m so close, _so close_.” She pants, and he palms himself through his jeans when her legs start shaking against the back of his neck, desperate, and uncontrolled.

Speeding up the thrusting of his fingers, he sucks Rey’s clit into his mouth, and she shatters, crying out as the walls of her cunt grip his fingers, and her legs clench around his head, making it so that all he’s able to do is slowly—but firmly—massage her clit with his tongue, groaning as she rides out her orgasm with shakes and spasms against him.

_Heaven. This is heaven._

As she comes down from her high, her legs loosen from around his neck, and he looks up at her, not expecting to see what he does; a smile that reaches her eyes, regarding him with warmth, and softness.

His throat bobs, and his eyes soften as he looks at her, half-naked and panting, but almost vulnerable in the way she looks at him. It’s the absolute opposite of what he’s used to seeing from her.

She looks almost…happy.

He stands as she hops off the counter, walking towards him with molten heat in her eyes, and a hypnotizing sway to her hips.

He realizes he dislikes her much less in this moment…well, if he’s honest with himself, he really doesn’t dislike her that much at all.

“So…” Rey starts, still breathing heavily as she traces a slow finger down the front of Ben’s shirt. “Mind if I return the favor?” Her hand stills at the waist of his pants, and his cock swells as the idea of her mouth on him.

“Please, _yes._ ” He groans out, prompting Rey to push him against the counter, and place both of his hands on the edge of it.

“Grip it,” She glances up at him from underneath her lashes with a devilish smirk. “ _For leverage._ ”

Ben’s cock twitches, stretching against his jeans at her words, and his eyes follow her hands as they come to the front of his pants, undoing the button with ease before hooking her thumb through his pants—and boxers—slowly pulling them down.

His cock springs free, and Ben strangles out a moan when Rey hums appreciatively, lightly running a finger down his hardened length.

“God, Ben. You…I don’t know if I’m going to be able to take all of you in my mouth,” She lightly licks the tip of his head, and Ben growls at the contact, tightening his fists on the edge of the countertop. “I’ll damn well try, though.”

Ben’s lets out a strangled gasp when her mouth wraps around his cock, and the pleasure shooting up his spine like a bolt of lightning.

Rey works her way slowly down his length, running her tongue against and around him until his cock hits the back of her throat, causing Ben to bring his hand around the back of her head, tangling his fingers in her chestnut hair while he struggles not to come right then and there.

“ _Oh fuck_ , Rey. Your mouth feels s-so _good._ ”

This…whatever magic she’s working with her lips and tongue is much different than when he’d been buried to the hilt inside her cunt, but somehow still just as amazing; a different kind of heaven, but heaven all the same.

Ben breathes in sharply, letting out a guttural groan when Rey’s hand firmly grips the rest of him, supplementing for the rest of his length that she can’t fit in her mouth. Ben’s eyes glass over as he watches her bob up and down on him, meeting his eyes with a wink when she brings her other hand up to cup his balls, massaging gently.

The minute she combines the movements of her tongue, her lips, her hands, Ben knows he’s reached his limit. With a panic, he brings a hand to Rey’s shoulder, lightly pushing back.

“ _Ohhhhh, Rey._ I’m close—really close—I’m gonna—” He stutters out, trying to pull away, but his eyes widen in shock when she bring her hands up to grip his hips, continuing to lick and suck at him until he erupts with a guttural moan, hot satisfaction burning through his veins while he subtly thrusts himself past her lips, filling her mouth with his cum.

He pants, arms shaking while he watches with rapt attention as Rey pulls herself from him before meeting his eyes, her throat bobbing when she swallows the cum he left in her mouth; her face twists slightly as she does it, like she’s not expecting the taste of it.

His pupils dilate. He likes that. _A lot._

“That— _you_ —you didn’t—” Ben stutters out, still not quite able to wrap his head around what just happened. She chuckles then, a smirk twisting at her lips when she takes in his disheveled state.

“It was a little saltier than I thought it’d be…but I guess with your attitude it makes sense.” She chides, picking her panties up off the ground, and slipping into them. Ben scoffs at her words, his head still swimming in the afterglow of his orgasm.

“Well, I could say the same about the bitter taste of you.” He mutters, watching her pull her shorts up and over her perfectly rounded ass.

“Bitter, maybe. But you didn’t hate it.”

“I did not,” Ben smirks. “You didn’t seem to mind the ‘salt’ either.”

“Always had a thing for it, actually.”

They smile at each other, but the awkwardness of the situation soon permeates the air, and Rey teeters on the back of her feet, her eyes shifting around the room, her mouth opening to speak.

Ben deflates completely, preparing for the familiar sting of Rey’s rejection. Before she can say a word, he lifts his hand, effectively cutting her off.

“Yes, yes. Don’t tell anyone. I know.” He says, unable to keep the disappointment and hurt out of his voice. Rey presses her lips tightly together as a frown crosses her features. She nods once, muttering something about catching her bus. 

_The bus?_

Ben frowns, remembering her mention earlier in the week that her car was in the shop for repairs. 

Conflict rages through him as he watches her turn around. He doesn’t want his time to end with her, but he’s not sure why. He shouldn’t want to spend more time with Rey. He hates her…right?

Before he can think about it too hard, the words are out of his mouth.

“Let me drive you home.”

Rey freezes in her tracks. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s driven to her small apartment; he’d been by several times with his parents in high school.

After what seems like a lifetime, she turns around with a confused smile pulling at her lips.

“Sure—just let me grab my stuff.” She sounds surprised, but not unhappy about the turn of events, much to Ben’s relief.

When she comes back out with her things, they lock up, and Ben leads her to his car, opening the door for her to get in, before hopping into the driver’s seat, twisting the key in the ignition.

When loud, obnoxious classical music starts blaring through the speakers, Ben cringes, and Rey guffaws loudly, rolling her eyes.

“Of course. Of course you listen to this pretentious shit.” She shakes her head, and Ben quickly turns the volume down before backing up and out of the parking lot.

“I used to think the same, but it’s grown on me. And as an added bonus, it annoys the hell out of my dad.” Ben smiles wryly, and Rey lets out a half-hearted chuckle before the car is filled with thick silence.

Tapping her fingernails against the armrest, Rey turns to look at him, eyes questioning.

“Why do you hate them so damn much?” Her voice is quiet, like she isn’t even sure she should be asking him. Ben reels. It’s not a question he’s prepared for. At all.

“They never cared for me, so why should I care for them?” He mutters, and the tapping of Rey’s nails against the door stills.

She sighs deeply. “You’re wrong on that, Solo. You’re missing out on something you shouldn’t take for granted.”

He feels guilt grip him, and he can’t help feeling like an ass for complaining about his parents to someone who never had that luxury. But at the same time, he can't help but feel like she just doesn’t get it.

“Maybe they do care, but they’re shit at showing it,” He breathes deeply, mulling over his words. “It’s more than a case of caring or not caring. Relationships are complicated, and not every situation ends in a happily ever after.” He nearly chokes on the words as they leave his mouth.

“That’s incredibly depressing, Ben.”

Ben shrugs. “Guess I left my positive pants at home.”

And when Rey laughs, loud and carefree, he feels something change in him. He revels in it, quickly deciding that hearing her laugh again should be at the very top of his priority list.


	3. Happened so Fast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter by: [SpaceWaffleHouseTM](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceWaffleHouseTM/pseuds/SpaceWaffleHouseTM)

The third time it happens, they’re both shirtless—except for her bra— and the sheer lack of clothing forces her to notice how soft his fucking hair is. Her fingers are threading through it, and she thinks as they brush through the waves that Ben Solo’s hair is made of silk. It feels remarkable against her fingertips as she holds him against her neck, where he’s currently kissing sweat off of her skin as she rides his cock with abandon. 

This time isn’t as fast and hard as the first, though. It’s a little more sensual, the way her hips roll against his, the way his thumb rubs her clit as his lips leave marks she knows everyone will see the next day on her skin. He’s marking her, she knows, but she’d marked him first, and upon the next strike of lightning outside the window of the booth they’re fucking in, she’s certain she’d be able to see the marks she left if she pulls back. 

Outside, one of many notorious summer thunderstorms is raging, wind forcing rain to beat violently against the glass of the window that faces the ocean. A part of her is scared that maybe the sea will get a little violent, that their bodies will wash up on shore later naked as the day they were born, and everyone will know what they’ve been doing. 

Most of her, however, is comforted by the fact that Ben’s arms are around her. It shouldn’t be as comforting as it is, but he makes her feel safe, like the raging storm outside can’t get her. 

Lightning strikes outside, and she grips his hair a little more tightly in anticipation of the next thunderclap, his kisses growing firmer, but still retaining their gentle touch as he moves to her jaw, kissing away sweat that’s gathered there as his hands splay out along her bare back, holding her close against him.  _ He knows _ , she realizes. He knows she’s scared, and as the thunder rolls overhead, shaking the diner as Ben’s hands rub sweet circles into her back, making her wonder how the hell this ever could’ve happened. 

It’s nearly the Fourth of July now, June making way for the upcoming Independence Day rush, and so much has changed between them since the summer started. She no longer hates Ben. This much became clear to her after the second time they had sex, but what she feels for him…

_ Fuck _ , she has no idea what it is she feels for him. She wouldn’t call Ben a friend, but what the hell is he then aside from excellent in the sack?

This summer has changed her life. In the past, when they worked here in the summers during high school, they’d only ever clashed. Now she looks at him differently, now they’ve made each other laugh. She knows what he looks like when he smiles now, and his dimples have appeared in her dreams. It’s kind of cute, she thinks, and maybe his smile could light up the entire world if he’d just let it blossom more often. 

_ Shit,  _ she shouldn’t be thinking about him like that. He’s not her lover. He’s just a good fuck. He is casual sex and if she’s in love with any part of him, it’s his cock. 

A soft moan escapes her as the roll of thunder fades and his thumb rubs gently against her clit. His lips break away from her neck then, and for a moment, as the storm and the world itself rages on in a sea of chaos around them, she catches his eyes in the low light, and in them she sees the usual lust and desire she always does, but beneath that surface emotion, she sees something more. Whatever it is, it frightens her, and she wants nothing more than to run from it as fast as she can, but it also pulls her in, and she knows it changes things. Or at least, it’s going to. 

She can’t look him in the eyes like this; it’s too intimate. If they keep fucking like this it isn’t going to be just sex anymore, and so she pulls him back to her neck, allowing his lips to explore her skin as her hands drift down from his hair, nails raking down his back hard enough to earn her a low groan against her jaw. “ _ Fuck,  _ Rey,” he breathes, and something about the way he says it makes her impossibly wet. 

_ God,  _ he feels so good inside of her, he hits places she struggles to reach with anything but the cheap dildos she buys, fills her in ways the silicone can’t. “Don’t talk, just fuck me,” she breathes, and thankfully by now, he’s learned to shut up and get her off, but as his lips find her collarbone, as he sucks a mark into her skin. The added stimulation nearly pushes her over the edge as she rides him a little faster, instinct starting to take over as she chases her climax, needing to come on his cock, needing to feel him come apart beneath her— _ inside  _ of her. 

The thought of those little sounds Ben makes when he comes pushes her close, and she barely has time to tell him, “I’m gonna come,” before she falls apart completely, feeling as if she’s weightless, floating, even as she continues to ride him within an inch of his life. They’re both panting impossibly hard, and Rey’s hands grip his hair once more as she holds onto him, keeping him close as if she’s trying to ground herself. He may be the only thing tethering her to reality even as he makes her see stars, she thinks. 

Whatever feeling that brings him, she can tell it brings him close. Ben’s movements against her become stuttered, like he’s barely pushing on, but he really, really wants to. “Come on,” she whispers, turning her head towards his so that her lips brush his ear as he pants against her neck. “Come for me, Ben.”

That does it. Hearing her command sends him over the edge, and though there’s a condom separating them, she can still feel a burst of warmth inside of her as he comes apart, her name whispered against her jaw as he slowly pulls back from her. She then watches his face as he comes, his eyes falling shut as his head falls back, held up only by her hands as she continues rolling her hips over his. 

It comes to an end slowly, impossibly slowly, as if they’re both drawing out their pleasure to avoid the inevitable crash of reality. This collision, however, never comes. Instead, Ben’s forehead presses against hers, and in all honesty, with how sweaty they both are—she blames the summer humidity—it should be gross, but it’s oddly sweet. It’s in this moment that Rey realizes Ben is good, that he’s a kind soul, because all he does in the aftermath is hold her for a few seconds while they catch their breath. Per her request, he doesn’t say anything, but she can feel his hands splaying out over her back, and one of them rubs soothing little circles in the ridges of her spine. 

Ben Solo is secretly kind, and he can project that bitter, angry persona he has toward anyone while his parents are around and have the entire town convinced he’s a bit of a dick, but when he’s alone, he’s impossibly gentle. He has a light in him that she wishes he’d let shine through. Maybe if he did people would like him more, and maybe they’d be fucking for more reasons than just hatred. 

His lips find hers a few seconds later, pulling her from her thoughts, and she jolts in surprise at first, but then melts into it, leaning into him as her fingers stroke his sweaty waves. One of her hands reaches up to brush a few strands of hair from his face, pulling them away from their mouths as well as she deepens the kiss, not caring that she needs to climb off of him and remind him that this never happened. She knows what she needs to do, but she’s ignoring it. He feels good—he makes her feel good, and she knows he knows by now not to say anything about what they’re doing. 

Could she ever look Leia or Han in the eyes if they knew she was fucking their son? No, she couldn’t. She’d need to go lose herself to the ocean if they ever found out.

The slow, lazy kiss they’re sharing gets deeper, and she moans softly against his lips as he places a hand on her cheek, wondering how a person can be so tender to someone they are barely friends with as Ben’s massive palm covers what feels like half of her face. She should stop it, the kiss is too soft, too saccharine, too personal, but she doesn’t. 

What that means is another frightening thing, and she pulls away from him a bit more abruptly than she meant to, confusion swimming in his eyes as their chests heave in the aftermath of it all. “R-Rey?”

“Needed air, sorry,” she replies, then she backs off of him, her chest heaving as she adjusts the little skirt she’d worn that day back to its full length. As she looks back at him though, she could tell he still suspects something is up. Technically, he is right, but he doesn’t need to know that. “I’m fine, I promise.”

Still looking like he doesn’t fully believe her, Ben removes the condom from his cock, and the two begin to dress themselves as the storm rages on outside. Lightning hits nearby, the ensuing thunder shaking the diner as Rey works to pull on her shirt, causing her fingers to slip as she swears loudly. 

The boy currently throwing on his t-shirt laughs at her as she resumes her work, his dopey grin oddly endearing as it catches with the next strike of lightning. She kind of wants to kick his ass because of it, but all she ends up doing is shoving him back into the booth so that he’s lying back against it, still smiling up at her even as he tucks his shirt into his pants. It’s endearing if she’s being honest with herself.  _ He  _ is endearing. He has made her laugh or at least smile every time they’ve been together like this. 

At the bare minimum, she can admit to herself that this is no longer hate fucking, but that she and Ben Solo are friends with benefits. That term doesn’t feel quite right though, and a tiny voice in the back of her head won’t stop nagging,  _ no, you are more _ , but she tells it to shut up. She’s never had feelings for another person, not feelings like this. She needs more time to figure out what they mean. 

But no, she doesn’t hate Ben, not anymore. Not ever again unless he does something stupid. 

“Would you ever want to do this somewhere that isn’t the diner?” he asks, hope in his eyes as she combs her fingers through her sex tangled hair, using her faint reflection on the window to assess how damaged it is. 

“Why would we do that?”

“Because it’s starting to get harder to look my dad in the eye every time he comes in here and we have a conversation in the kitchen or in a booth and all I can think about is how your face looks when you come,” he says, then she snorts her amusement as she reaches over, and begins to smooth down  _ his  _ sex hair. 

“Alright, that’s fair. Where do you suggest we go then? We don’t exactly have a whole lot of options.” She watches his eyes close as she combs her fingers through his waves, still slightly damp from sweat. They’re both in dire need of a shower, but she still thinks he looks almost cute like this. Something about the boyish grin and the little blush on his cheeks she can see even in the dark beneath his mussed hair make for rather captivating little details which remind her that she’s in trouble if she keeps thinking about him like this. 

“I mean, I don’t know. My father’s always here or at home, so’s my mom, so… I don’t know,” he says, then he sits up, pointing a finger toward the window, where the ocean is still raging violently outside. “Or we could be cliche and do it on the beach.”

She laughs at this, then she shrugs. “We could. We’d have to be careful about it, though.”

“We have to be careful about it in here, too,” he reminds her, then she sighs as she crawls out of the booth completely, and offers him her hand. “What are you doing?”

“I know your dad dropped you off here today. I’m driving you home,” she tells him, then she shrugs. “I feel like I kind of owe you a favor anyway.”

The corners of his mouth twitch up, then he takes her hand, allowing her to pull him up before he mutters a quiet, “Thanks,” then he brushes himself off before his eyes meet hers, and suddenly it’s like time stops. 

Half a second passes, but it feels like a million years go by before his lips find hers once again, and it’s like the lightning from outside has struck in her veins. She feels like she’s burning, she’s on fire, she’s exploding, but in the best possible way. His hands are at her cheeks, so hers rest against his waist like a reverse slow dance, and she kisses him back. 

It’s odd and slightly out of place, but it’s nice. It’s the first time she can remember kissing him outside of their sexual encounters, and knowing this kiss isn’t leading anywhere in particular is kind of exciting. They haven’t ever given one another the opportunity to just be kissed, and she’s finding as Ben holds her close that she likes it. 

Her heart still doesn’t know what it wants, but her body? Her lips? They definitely do. 

She pulls away a minute later, and reaches onto the booth’s table for her keys. “Come on, dickhead, it’s getting late and the storm’s only supposed to get worse.”

A groan leaves his lips as she walks out of the diner, but she can tell he’s right on her heels. “Are we sure it’s safe to drive?”

“I am  _ not  _ spending the night with you in the diner,” she protests. 

“... but you’d spend the night with me elsewhere?”

Shaking her head, she refuses to answer him, instead opting to grab her umbrella when they reach the front door, and hold it open for them both as they push out into the thunderstorm and almost immediately becomes soaked. Been laughs at her attempts to keep them dry as he locks up the diner, but eventually sick she succeeds, and he locks the door Then they pushed out into the rain toward her car, squealing and laughing the entire way until she puts her umbrella away and then they get to her car together, and drive away to safety. 

Both of them think that that’s the end of it. Not the end of what they’re doing, but the end of the emotional connection, the end of the softness between them at least for the night. It becomes apparent, however when he makes her laugh not a minute later, that even though they are no longer naked and no longer in that booth, the night isn’t over because he’s still making her laugh, he’s still giving her memory she isn’t going to forget soon, and she’s still not able to stop thinking about how wonderful he is, how much she doesn’t understand how she ever hated him. This isn’t hatred anymore, this isn’t as simple as loathing but it isn’t as simple as friendship either. It has become a complex living thing of a connection, and as she drives on toward his house, she knows that the next time something happens between them, nothing will ever be the same again.


	4. She Got Friendly, Down in the Sand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written by @SheWalksInBeauty26, IOS coding by @SpaceWaffleHouseTM

Rey pulls a robe tighter around herself, yawning as she trudges to the small kitchenette in her apartment to make coffee. 

The cold of the morning signifies the change in the seasons— Rey knows without looking at the calendar that the summer is coming to an end. Families visiting the coast are packing up to return to school, work, real life. 

The end of the summer means more than Rey would like to admit. She thinks of a certain pair of dimples with a pang in her chest. 

Just at that moment, her coffee maker beeps and she moves to grab a mug from the cabinet to her left. It is, of course, one of many mugs from the diner, “won” by working a summer at the Falcon. Always a handshake from Han and a “See ya next year, kid.”

The thought of Han brings back more memories, bittersweet in the shadow of her oncoming departure to college. She knows nothing can ever be the way it was. 

As the bitter coffee stimulates her sleepy brain, she leans against the counter, dwelling on just how deep the change between her and Ben has become. 

She is due to work a morning shift with Ben, only the two of them needed because of the lateness of the season. 

Rey isn’t concerned with that, she knows the diner like the back of her hand. No, what made her stomach turn in knots, what she couldn’t, didn’t want to process, was what she and Ben planned for after. 

🕶️🕶️🕶️🕶️🕶️🕶️

When Rey had dropped Ben off, car idling in front of the house she knew so well, Ben has stalled getting out of the car. As the silence lengthened, Rey waited for him to speak. 

“Can I— is it alright if… well...canIhaveyournumber?” Ben rushed out in a mumble. 

Rey schooled her features into a look of calm, though she wanted to grin. 

“I’m sorry Ben, I didn’t catch that. You’ll have to speak up.”

This time, he stared hard at the dashboard as he spoke, his ears tinged red in a way Rey found adorable. 

“I was wondering…. if I could… have… your cell phone number. To text you.”

“Well, I figured that was what they were for. Thanks for clarifying though.” She couldn’t help returning.

When his flushed face turned towards her, his eyes held a look of such misery that she couldn’t torture him any longer. 

_Going soft._ She thought. 

Clearing her throat dramatically, she said in the primmest and most proper voice she could muster, “Yes Benjamin. You may have my cellular.” 

It had the desired effect. He immediately relaxed, chuckling at her bravado. 

Ben fished his iPhone from inside his backpack and handed her the phone, fingers still shaking slightly from latent nerves. As she typed her information into his phone, he wiped sweaty palms on his jean-clad knees. 

“That should do it,” she said, with a flirtatious smile, and batted her eyelashes innocently. 

Ben looked down to where she had written “Rey Niima” and under company, had filled in “Best sex of my life” with both peach and water droplet emojis. At first, he was mortified but only shook his head at her antics. Classic Rey. 

He returned his phone to his bag and moved to sling it over his shoulder, opening the door and sliding out. Just before he shut it, he smiled at her. 

“Goodnight Rey,” he said, trying to transmit the depth of his feelings for this antagonizing, infuriating, sexy, beautiful, perfect girl. 

She was the last thing he thought about before his eyes closed.

🕶️🕶️🕶️🕶️🕶️🕶️

Rey shakes herself out of her reverie, setting the mug in the sink and hurrying to her bedroom to change into her work uniform. As she adjusts her name tag, she thinks of that next day, when she receives a veritable barrage of texts from the confounding Ben Solo .

The first comes at ten a.m. (Rey is still asleep, it is a Saturday without work, after all).

Possibly: Ben   
  
hey. It’s Ben.   
  
fjjff   
  


Seconds later:

Possibly: Ben   
  
sorry! My fingers are too big for this damn keyboard.   
  


The second few come later when Rey returns from the store, buying groceries for the next week.

Possibly: Ben   
  
How are you?   
  
I hope you’re good, I’m good.   
  
if you were wondering.   
  


Rey misses these, preoccupied with a large spider on her wall. After chasing the damn thing all over the house, she decides to take a long shower, luxuriating in the feel of the hot water on her skin. She emerges to more texts.

Possibly: Ben   
  
can I ask you something?   
  


Ten minutes later:

Possibly: Ben   
  
Do you want to maybe go out with me somewhere after our shift Friday?   
  


Running a towel over her hair, Rey takes pity on him.

Possibly: Ben   
  
Do you want to maybe go out with me somewhere after our shift Friday?   
  
Hi Ben!   
  
Sorry it took me a little while to answer, I’ve been busy.   
  


She ponders the last text, mulling it over. They had agreed to get out of the diner with their “activities.” She blushes, reliving the moment when he’d said talking to his dad in the diner had begun to get weird. He is right about that, they can’t keep screwing all over the diner.

Possibly: Ben   
  
sure. What do you want to do?   
  


He responds in minutes.

Possibly: Ben   
  
sure. What do you want to do?   
  
I was thinking we could go sit by the pier, maybe get ice cream from Maz’s?   
  
only if you want to, we don’t have to   
  


Rey smiles at his reassurance. She had recently taken note of the kind soul hiding beneath the brooding facade, and now it was evident in everything he did.

Ben   
  
no, sounds fun! Let’s do it :)   
  
great. See you soon.   
  


Days later, the night she had been anticipating was mere hours away. 

She steps out of the house, locking the door behind her. The brisk morning air rushes in her face, bringing her back to reality from thoughts of Ben. 

When she arrives at the shop, she sees that Ben’s car is parked out front. Typical. An early bird, he loves to taunt her about her late arrival to shifts.

It’s not her fault she doesn’t like waking up at the asscrack of dawn. 

She strides into the back to hang up her bag and tie on her apron. She has to man the griddle today because Chewie is sick. She’ll miss trading quips with the clever older man. 

A friend of Han and Leia’s, practically Ben’s Uncle, he had retired from a big fancy restaurant in the City to help out at the Falcon. He had taught Rey quite a few tricks, and she could put together a variety of diner food in passable shape.

They aren’t supposed to have many customers anyway, summer waning as it was. 

She rounds the corner, double knotting the apron behind her back. Ben is up on a stool, his back to her, dusting framed photos of silver screen actors with a cloth. 

Rey briefly considers scaring him, and while that would be entertaining, she feels they’d advanced beyond childish tactics. Their relationship is different, more serious. If the feelings in Rey’s gut are anything to go on, they’ve moved into new, deeply intimate, terrifying territory. 

Instead, she goes for a calm and normal greeting. 

“Hey Ben,” she calls from behind the industrial skillet. 

Of course, because he is Ben Solo, he still startles enough to make his feet wobble for purchase on the stool.

She can’t hold back a small snort. 

He turns to glare at her after composing himself. 

But there is no heat there, instead, she sees friendliness in the subtle lift at the corner of his mouth.

“Well hello to you too,” he fires back, shaking his head at her, as if he can’t believe her, and yet expects this at the same time. 

As they resume work, a quiet but comfortable atmosphere settles over the space. Every now and then, they catch one another’s gaze and offer a smile. Sometimes, Ben blushes and looks away when Rey catches him watching her. 

Gone is the animosity, the tense anger. They exist like they’ve been this way for years. 

When Ben goes to unlock the door to customers, Rey smiles at him, thinking of their plans for later that night. Thoughts on the same train, Ben grins back. 

_Just a few more hours. Then I can hold you._ They seem to say.

Rey would reprimand herself for such sappy sentimentality if it feel so good, so _right_. 

🕶️🕶️🕶️🕶️🕶️🕶️

Morning blurrs to afternoon, the shop closes for a couple of hours, and Rey and Ben take a break for lunch. They sit in companionable silence while eating sandwiches Rey had made them. 

“Do you think you’ll come back next year?” Rey asks, dabbing at the side of her mouth with a napkin, eyes on the seashore. 

Ben answers after a few moments. 

“I don’t know. Honestly.” 

Rey takes a moment to absorb this information. She doesn’t know what _she’ll_ be doing either. But she knows she wants to hold onto this thing between them, this fledgling connection. It needs care and time. 

As if sensing her train of thought, Ben nudges her shoulder lightly. 

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” he says playfully. 

Rey rolls her eyes, unable to stop the smile stretching her cheeks at his words. 

“I know, I couldn’t if I wanted to.” 

He meets her eyes, moving to pointedly look down at her lips. 

“But you don’t want to, do you?”

“I—” she stops herself. “No.”

Ben begins moving towards her instinctually, but the charged silence is broken by a young child shrieking happily from a few feet away. 

They both seem to shake themselves of the tension at the same moment. Rey shoots up, brushing herself for crumbs and clearing her throat awkwardly. 

Ben follows, albeit slower, and they enter the shop at the same time, ready to begin another shift. The only one standing between them and their night together. 

🕶️🕶️🕶️🕶️🕶️🕶️

As the time ticks past, the shop fills up. Just before closing, a family of four slides into a booth near the front. Rey and Ben share a commiserating glance. They won’t be getting out on time tonight. 

With a private sigh, Rey musters a customer service grin and saunters over to take their orders. 

🕶️🕶️🕶️🕶️🕶️🕶️

Finally, _Finally_ , he is going to be alone with her, Ben thinks as he moves to lock the front door. He is practically buzzing with excitement. He can’t wait to spend time with Rey, on a date.

He wants this to be something more, having agonized over his texts that weekend. But it turns out it is. He isn’t crazy. This girl he thought he had resolved to hate had changed so much in his estimation.

Suddenly she has wormed her way deep inside his heart. She is important to him. 

He wants to show her, tell her how much she means to him. And they are running out of time. 

He shakes off these thoughts as Rey moves towards him, smiling. 

She wraps her arms around his neck and leans in to peck his cheek. Her smell, mixed with vague hints of pancake batter, washes over him. He slides his arms easily around her waist and looks into her warm hazel eyes. 

“Ready to go, Solo?” she asks quietly. 

They both can feel the anticipation in the air. 

“Yes.”

She grins, moving to extricate herself from him, but he holds tighter, and brings his lips to her forehead, pressing a kiss there. 

The gesture is heart-wrenchingly sweet, and Rey felt a familiar pang in her chest. She has been starting to be concerned that she is really and truly _gone_ for this boy. 

She realizes then that the feelings of anxiety at this intimacy, her scars born of a deep abandonment, are noticeably absent. 

Rey can trust Ben. But she just isn’t sure if she can trust him with her heart. 

She moves away after a beat, grabbing his hand to pull him behind her to the back. They grab their bags, and after locking up, stroll out of the shop and head towards Maz’s. 

A small ice cream shop situated a block away from the Falcon, Maz’s is a staple in the community. The namesake of the establishment is an old woman who has seen generations pass through, summer after summer. Looking into her eyes is like reading a book about a subject you’ve never heard of.

When the pair stroll to the window, she doesn’t even raise a brow in surprise. 

With a knowing gleam in her eye, she turns to Ben. 

“Ah young Solo, what’ll it be?”

“Two cones, one blackberry chip and one double scoop of hot fudge sundae.”

At first, Rey bristles when Ben begins ordering for them, indignant that he would speak for her. When she hears him speak, her expression changed to one of wonder. 

“You know my order?”

Ben blushes. 

“Well, we did go here a lot, you know, before.”

Ah. When his parents had taken to looking after her. They had shown her lots of fun things that first summer. Rey had tried this flavor of ice cream once and become hooked. 

Still, she is touched. She squeezes his hand to transmit this emotion without words. He squeezes back, and warmth spreads through her. 

Hand in hand, licking ice cream from their cones, they move down the street, crossing towards the beach. When they got to the soft white sand below the pier, Ben withdraws his hand from hers to open his rucksack. 

He shakes out a large, soft-looking quilt and spreads it on the sand. 

He then gestures for her to sit down. She does, unable to resist quipping “Hope you don’t think this means you’re getting lucky, Solo.” 

Instead of the blush she expects to appear on his cheeks, he simply pulls her closer and places his head above hers, cheek resting on the top of her head. 

“Oh I think we’re past that,” he says quietly, nearly drowned out by the crashing waves. 

Rey wants to press him. _What are we? What are we going to do when we both leave for school?_

She attempts to quiet her racing mind by looking out at the moonlit horizon, marveling in the beauty of the place she called home. 

Ben breaks the silence first. 

“I’ll miss you, you know.”

Rey turns to see him looking at her, eyes shining with something she knows is reflected in her own expression. 

“I’ll miss you, too. Who will I terrorize?”

“Oh I’m sure you’ll find someone,” he quickly replies in a teasing tone. 

She moves to smack him lightly in retaliation, but he catches her hand and twists her so she is beneath him on the quilt. 

“Rey, I want to say something to you. And you don’t have to say anything back. You can leave if you want. But please, just listen first.”

Rey’s eyes widen, her playful smile disappearing when her rapt attention is drawn to him. 

“Rey I… used to hate you. I wished you had never shown up here. I felt like you were stealing my parents’ affection from me. I couldn’t understand what you had that I didn’t.”

Rey’s mouth flattens, and she shifts restlessly beneath him, noting absently that he is hard against her stomach. 

Taking in her expression, Ben trudges onwards. 

“Notice I said ‘used.’ Rey, I… I understand everything now. You’re sunshine. You light up the room when you smile and you melt me into goo when you turn those beautiful eyes on me. Rey, I know this is crazy, probably unexpected from your worst enemy. But I’m in love with you. I love you so much it hurts to breathe sometimes. I—“ he moves to continue, but Rey surges up and drags him by the neck down to her lips. 

Pressing a hard kiss on his mouth, Rey beams up at him. 

“Stop making speeches, you big oaf. I love you, too. Now, will you just fuck me already?”

Ben’s face lights up and he moves to kiss her eagerly, moaning when she thrusts her hips up to meet his. They quickly work to shed each others’ clothes, kissing, biting and licking as they go. 

Rey moans when Ben’s teeth score a line along her neck as he fumbles with her bra strap. When her breasts are freed, he cups them in his hands, groaning into her mouth. 

They are desperate for each other, on fire with the feeling of new love. 

When Ben moves to position his cock at her entrance, he rests his forehead against hers and they both gasp when he slides home. Rey moves her hands around his broad back, losing herself in the feeling of his cock pistoning in and out of her. 

It feels amazing. Their previous times seem almost muted in comparison to this. Her whole body is a live wire, moving in tandem with his as she moves to get as close to him as she possibly could. 

Ben is in heaven, she feels like heaven. He can’t believe this amazing girl loves him back. 

At that moment, nothing matters except the two of them. Not the rapidly ending summer, not the future, not the insecurities both of them shoulder. 

As Ben rolls his hips into Rey’s, feeling her grasp his shoulders tighter, closer, he feels at home. 

Rey holds on like he is her only life vessel in an ocean. 

And, as Ben reaches down to rub her clit, bringing her to an orgasm that whites out her vision, Rey thinks she’s glad she fucked her enemy that day in Han’s office. 


End file.
